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Book . ^5qB_. 



PKESENTED BY 



JOHN BIDWELL, PIONEER 

BY MARCUS BENJAMIN 




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JOHN BIDWELL, PIONEER 



A SKETCH OF HIS CAREER 



BY MARCUS BENJAMIN 




WASH INGTON 
1907 



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FOREWORD 

The California pioneer has never had adequate justice 
done to him. Bret Harte has given to the world the 
romance of the early seekers after gold in mining 
camps with their picturesque environment, hut the 
sturdy pioneers, who, in the splendid majesty of their 
strength, gave their lives to the building of the State, 
too often, have gone to their graves neglected and, 
sometimes, even forgotten. The suggestion of the 
California State Association of the District of Columbia 
of doing homage to the memory of John Bidwell, one 
of the earliest, and perhaps the greatest, of the pioneers 
of California, was therefore welcomed as a special 
privilege. 

That the following sketch of General Bidwell's 
career, the facts of which have been kindly verified by 
Mrs. Bidwell, may receive the approval of its readers, 
is the sincere wish of the writer. 

M. B. 



JOHN BIDWELL, Pioneer 

A SKETCH OF HIS CAREER 



[Vestzuard the course of empire takes its way 



THE natural ambition of every true young 
American to achieve independence has demon- 
strated beyond peradventure the sentiment to 
which Dean Berkeley gave utterance nearly two 
centuries ago. The descendants of the Pilgrims and 
the Puritans crossed the Hudson into the fertile lands 
of what is now the great Empire State of the Union. 
From New York farther westward the sturdy pioneers 
took their way into Ohio and the valley of the Missis- 
sippi and thence, after the purchase of Louisiana, they 
passed over the Father of Waters, on and over great 
mountain ranges and cruel deserts, braving the elements 
and overcoming all obstacles, ever following the set- 
ting sun until that great orb sank beyond the Golden 
Gate into the blue waters of the Pacific. 

California, the land of sunshine and of flowers, where 
early 

Came the friars of ancient story. 

The padres have long since passed away but their 
blessed memories will ever remain 

While Mission grape and olive 
Still grow amid the wheat. 

Then as the Missions crumbled into ruins there 

1 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



came the Argonauts of '49 in search of their El 
Dorado and California grew into Statehood. 

And so always settlers and frontiersmen in their 
ambition to attain independence have builded from 
the east to the west into a glorious nation a splendid 
succession of commonwealths that extend all the way 
from the shores of the Atlantic to the waters of the 
Pacific. 

John Bidwell was born in Chautauqua County, New 
York, on August 5, 1819, and was descended from 
native New England ancestry. His father, Abraham 
Bidwell, was a native of Connecticut and his mother, 
Clarissa Griggs, was born in Massachusetts. In 1829 
his parents moved to Erie County, Pennsylvania, and 
two years later settled in Ashtabula County, Ohio, 
whence in 1834 they moved to Darke County in the 
same State. 

The educational advantages in Ohio were slight in 
those early days, but young Bidwell determined to 
obtain an education, and so, at the age of seventeen, 
he decided to enter Kingsville Academy in Ashtabula 
County, three hundred miles from his home in Darke 
County. The journey had to be made on foot, and 
his brother has told how, on the morning before he 
started from home, the snow lay fourteen inches deep 
on the ground, but neither the snow, nor weeping 
relatives, nor yet the long and lonely journey could 
swerve him from his purpose of securing an education. 

How well he succeeded may be determined from 
the fact that at the youthful age of eighteen he was 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



elected principal of Kingsville Academy, although 
much younger than any of his competitors. 

In 1838, he returned to the home of his parents 
where he spent the winter teaching, and then, at the 
age of nineteen, went out to seek a fortune in the far 
West, single-handed and without means, but firm in 
the belief that the God of his forefathers would pro- 
tect and care for him. 

Of his experiences he has left an excellent account 
from which much that follows is taken. He writes: 
"In the Spring of 1839 I conceived a desire to see the 
great prairies of the West, especially those in Illinois, 
Iowa, and Missouri. Starting on foot to Cincinnati, 
ninety miles distant, I fortunately got a chance to ride 
most of the way on a wagon loaded with farm produce. 
My outfit consisted of about seventy-five dollars, the 
clothes I wore, and a few others in a knapsack which 
I carried strapped upon my shoulders. Though travel- 
ing was considered dangerous, I had no weapon more 
formidable than a pocket-knife. 

" From Cincinnati I went down the Ohio River by 
steamboat to the Mississippi, up the Mississippi to St. 
Louis, and thence to BurUngton in what was then the 
Territory of Iowa." 

Here he consulted Robert Lucas, who was Governor 
of the Territory, and on his advice concluded to go 
into the interior and select a tract of land on the Iowa 
River, but finding the location an unhealthy one he 
decided "to move on and strike out to the south and 
southwest into Missouri." 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



He reached Platte County in June, 1839, where, he 
says : " On my arrival my means being all spent, I was 
obliged to accept the first thing that offered and began 
teaching in the county about five miles from the town 
of Weston, which was on the north side of the Missouri 
River and about four miles above Fort Leavenworth in 
Kansas Territory." But having in mind the desire to 
become a farmer, he writes that : " By the favor of 
certain men and by paying a small amount for a little 
piece of fence here and a small clearing there, I got a 
claim and proposed to make it my home." 

During the following summer the weather was very 
hot and as he could do but little work on his farm, 
during vacation he went to St. Louis in order to procure 
some clothes, books, and other necessary supplies, 
returning some six weeks later. This trip proved to 
be the turning point in his life, for while he was gone 
a man whom he had permitted to build a cabin on the 
claim "jumped" his land. The law required not only 
a certain residence, but that the preemptor should be 
of legal age or a man of family, and as Bidwell was 
neither of these he could not take his case into court, 
and therefore he resolved to go elsewhere with the 
coming of spring. 

Meanwhile he continued to teach. During the win- 
ter, however, he met a Frenchman named Roubidoux, 
who said he had been in California. This enthusiast 
described the country as " one of perennial spring and 
boundless fertility, and laid stress on the countless 
thousands of wild horses and cattle", mentioning also 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



the wonderful fruit, especially the oranges that 
abounded there. Bidwell determined that if possible 
he would see that wonderful land. When one is 
young, what odds, even though 

The road is through dolor and dread, over crags and morasses ; 
There are shapes by the way, there are things that appal or 

entice us : 
What odds? 

A number of his neighbors agreed to accompany 
him, accordingly "a pledge was drawn up in which 
every signer agreed to purchase a suitable outfit and to 
rendezvous at Sapling Grove in what is now the State 
of Kansas on the ninth of the following May, armed 
and equipped to cross the Rocky Mountains to Cali- 
fornia. We called ourselves The Western Emigration 
Society, and as soon as the pledge was drawn up every 
one who agreed to come signed his name to it and it 
took like wildfire ". 

During the winter the agitation continued and in all 
some live hundred persons agreed to join the expedition, 
but as the spring came the enthusiasm waned, so that 
on leaving Weston there were only six or seven in the 
party, although " nearly half the town ", he writes, 
"followed us for a mile and some five or six miles to 
bid us goodbye, showing the deep interest felt in our 
journey". Later, however, others joined them until 
the party consisted of sixty-nine persons, including 
men, women, and children. 

As this was the first party organized to cross the 
Rocky Mountains on their way to Cahfornia, it is of 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



sufficient importance to describe their journey some- 
what in detail. A leader was chosen from among 
their number, but as he knew nothing of the route by 
which they should proceed, it seemed best to wail for 
a party of missionaries, among whom was Father De 
Smet, who, under the care of an experienced guide, 
were on their way to the Flathead Indian Mission, then 
located in northern Idaho. In a general way, starting 
from near Westport, where Kansas City now is, the 
route was in a northwesterly direction over the prairies 
and crossed several streams until the Platte River was 
reached. Then the lower bank of that river and its 
South Fork were successively followed and after cross- 
ing the latter, the North Fork, until Ash Hollow was 
reached and thence they continued along the North 
Fork to Fort Laramie, then a trading post of the 
American Fur Company. From here they proceeded 
along the waters of the North Platte and its branches, 
the Sweetwater, the Little Sandy, and the Big Sandy, 
finally reaching the Green River. The Rocky Mount- 
ains were crossed at the South Pass over the divide 
between the Green and Bear rivers. The Bear River 
was then followed to Soda Springs at its northermost 
bend where they parted company with the missionaries, 
who turned northward, while the party bound for 
California continued along Bear River until they came 
in sight of Great Salt Lake, around the north end of 
which they passed in September. 

The four months of constant exposure to the ele- 
ments had naturally tended to lessen the ardor of many 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



of the party, one-half of whom preferred to go with 
Father De Smet and decided to reach the coast down 
the Snake and Cohimbia rivers rather than attempt 
to journey without guide over the unknown and track- 
less desert towards California, but among these the 
stout-hearted Bidwell was not. The days were hot 
and the nights were cold, and as they journeyed west- 
ward from Salt Lake great difficulty was experienced 
in finding water that was suitable for drinking, and 
then provisions began to grow scarce. Soon came 
days and nights when no water at all could be had, and 
the mountains were still far away. 

Finally a camp was made where there was plenty of 
grass and an abundant supply of water, and here it was 
decided to abandon the wagons, for it was feared that 
otherwise California would not be reached before 
winter came on. Accordingly everything that could 
be dispensed with was thrown away, and again west- 
ward the party started with their oxen, mules, and 
horses laden with supplies. To the inexperienced, 
however, the art of packing animals is not an easy one 
and the packs have a way of becoming detached, so 
that it was not very long before the " horses became 
scared, mules kicked, oxen jumped and bellowed, and 
articles were scattered in all directions". But this was 
not all, for frequently the animals strayed away and on 
one occasion it became necessary for Bidwell to retrace 
his steps in search of some missing oxen. These he 
found lying down in tall grass near the trail, and after 
traveling all night he reached the place where the 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



camp had been made only to find that the party had 
gone on. For a day and a night he was alone in the 
desert, where death from starvation was possible and 
even probable, and perhaps worse, savage Indians were 
not uncommon, from whom no mercy could be 
expected if he should fall into their hands. Fortunately 
two of his companions who were unwilling to abandon 
him, turned back in search of him and before long, in 
consequence of their efforts, he rejoined the party. 

Many difficulties were yet to be overcome, but as all 
obstacles yield to persistence, these yielded to the 
indomitable will of Bidwell and his associates, and in 
time they reached the Humboldt River. Still west- 
ward they continued and then southward, crossing the 
Humboldt Mountains and finally arriving at Walker 
River at the eastern base of the Sierras. This range 
they crossed on the north side of the Walker River 
and on the west they came out at the headwaters of the 
Stanislaus River, which stream they then followed. 

The last ox was killed as they passed over the 
mountains and they became dependent upon such 
game as they could obtain, even eating the despised 
coyote. While following an Indian trail down the 
mountains, Bidwell while in search of game for food 
again became separated from the party and at dark he 
came to "an enormous fallen tree and tried to go 
around the top, but the place was too brushy, so I went 
around the butt, which seemed to me to be about 
twenty or twenty-five feet above my head". This he 
subsequently identified as one of the fallen trees in the 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 










Calaveras Grove of Big Trees, and therefore to him is 
justly due the honor of having been the first white man 
who ever saw the Sequoia gigantea or mammoth trees 
of California. On 
the night follow- 
ing, after an ab- 
sence of thirty-six 
hours, he overtook 
the party while in 
camp. 

California had 
been reached, but 
they did not know 
it, and it was far 
from being a 
promised land. 
There was yet a 
range of mount- 
ains to the west — 
the Coast Range 
— that loomed up 
before the ex- 
hausted wanderers 
and they paused, 
wondering if they 
still had strength 
enough to cross 
them. Their 
troubles were 

a1mn<!t OVPr framP PaSSPOKT issued by the MEXKAN authorities to Bid- 
aillI\JOL WV CI . VjaillC viy^t.i. ox HIS ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA IN 1841 




10 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



became abundant and wild grapes were plentiful. 
The valley of the San Joaquin had been reached and 
in a few days more they came to the ranch of Doctor 
Marsh, near the foot of Mount Diablo, where on 
November 4, 1841, their long journey, lasting nearly six 
months, came to an end. 

Such in brief were the experiences of the first party 
that ever went direct to California from the East, and 
they also were probably the first 
white persons to cross the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains, except pos- 
sibly the exploring expedition in 
1833 led by Captain Bonneville 
of the United States Army. 

While in camp at Mount 
Diablo, Bidwell learned of John 
A. Sutter who had started a col- 
ony a hundred miles to the 
north in the Sacramento Valley, 
within the confines of the pres- 
ent city of Sacramento, and 
with three companions he determined to join that col- 
ony. Bidwell was assured that the distance could be 
covered in two davs, but the winter season had set in and 
the journey was made through a pouring rain so that it 
was not until the eighth day that Sutter's Fort, or New 
Helvetia, as it was called, in honor of Sutter's parents 
who were natives of Switzerland, was reached. They 
were received with open arms and Bidwell 's first 
employment in California was in Sutter's service. His 




General John A. Svttkr 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



11 




own words are: "He engaged me to go to Bodega 
and Fort Ross and to stay there until he could finish 
removing the property which he had bought from 
the Russians. I remained there fourteen months 
until everything was removed ; then I came up into 
the Sacramento Valley and took charge, for Sutter, 
of his Hock Farm, remaining there a little more 
than a year — in 1843 and part of 1844." 

In January, 1842, he made his first visit to the Bay 
of San Francisco, and of this experience he writes: "1 
had never before seen salt water. The town was called 
Yerba Buena for the peppermint which was plentiful 



12 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

around some springs located a little south of the junc- 
tion of Pine and Sansome streets. Afterwards, in 1847, 
when, through the immigration of 1846 across the 
plains and through arrivals around Cape Horn, the place 
had become a village of some importance, the citizens 
changed the name to San Francisco, the name of the 
bay on which it was situated. With the exception of 
the Presidio and the Aduana (custom-house) all the 
buildings could be counted on the fingers and thumbs 
of one's hands". 

During the Spring of 1843, he penetrated the upper 
Sacramento Valley as far as where Red Bluff now is, in 
pursuit of a party bound for Oregon in order to recover 
some horses that had disappeared and were supposed 
to have been stolen. It was while on this expedition 
that he first saw the property which later became 
Rancho Chico. 

On his return he made a map of Sacramento Valley 
from observations taken on horseback, which was so 
accurate that it was adopted as the official map by the 
Mexican Governor. " Thus two years before Fremont's 
first explorations Bidwell traversed and explored the 
primeval wilderness of northern California and later, 
by official authority, gave the names they now bear to 
the principal streams and counties of that region". 

"The liberal policy of Governor Micheltorena in 
granting land to emigrants from the United States 
excited the prejudice and distrust of many of the native 
Calif ornians, and under the leadership of Jose Castro 
and Juan B. Alvarado, during the Autumn of 1844, 




lAN^'lN (IF L'lll<l> ('Hl':l',lv, U\MI[' 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 13 

they organized a revolt against the Mexican Governor." 
Sutter, accompanied by Bidwell, went to Monterey, 
then the capital of the Province, in order to confer with 
Micheltorena about land grants, and at San Jose, on 
the way, learned of the proposed uprising. On arriv- 
ing at Monterey they informed Micheltorena of the 
intentions of the conspirators. In the rnean while the 
first blow was struck by the insurgents who successfully 
stampeded all of the cavalry horses of the Mexicans, 
thus making pursuit impossible. Sutter, availing him- 
self of a convenient sailing vessel, proceeded to San 
Francisco and thence up the Sacramento River to 
Sutter's Fort, while Bidwell remained in Monterey for 
several weeks longer during which time the Governor 
organized his infantry so as to march against the enemy. 
Bidwell then returned overland to Sacramento, spend- 
ing a night in San Jose where he was entertained by 
Castro and Alvarado, who sought to gain his friendship 
and support. However, it was unanimously agreed 
among the Americans, who were rapidly assembling 
at Sutter's Fort, to organize and march to Monterey, 
which they did during December, 1844, Micheltorena 
meeting them in Salinas Valley where it was determined 
to pursue the insurgents to Los Angeles. On Febru- 
ary 22, 1845, the opposing forces met and gave battle 
at Cahuenga, twelve miles north of Los Angeles. 
Micheltorena was compelled to capitulate and leave the 
country. Sutter and Bidwell were made prisoners and 
taken to Los Angeles, but were soon released when 
thev returned on horseback to Sutter's Fort. 



14 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

In the autumn of 1845, John C. Fremont arrived in 
California at the head of his third expedition sent to 
explore the Great Basin and the maritime region of 
Oregon and California, reaching Sutter's Fort by the 
Truckee route. He spent the winter in the San 
Joaquin Valley and early in the spring started south 
with his party, but being ordered to leave the country 
by the Mexican authorities he turned north and passed 
up the Sacramento Valley into Oregon. A few weeks 
later Fremont returned and camped on the American 
River. In June, 1846, he seized a band of horses 
intended for General Castro's use. This action was so 

Fac-simile in Bidwell's Handwriting of tur Bear Flag Platform 

•suggestive to the minds of resident Americans that a 
party was organized that proceeded to Sonoma and 
seized a number of prominent Californians, including 
General Vallejo, and raised what has since been known 
as the " Bear Flag". On the fourth of July following, 
a committee consisting of John Bidwell, P. B. Reading 
and W. B. Ide, was appointed to report a plan of 
organization. Bid well's plan was adopted, which pro- 
vided that " the undersigned agree to organize and to 
remain in service as long as necessary for the purpose 
of gaining and maintaining the independence of Cali- 
fornia". General Vallejo was placed in confinement in 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 15 

Sutter's Fort and was for a time under the personal 
charge of Bidwell. 

Three companies of troops, known as the California 
Battalion, were formed and these, after receiving the 
news on the tenth of July that war had been declared 
between the United States and Mexico and that Captain 
J. D. Sloat had taken possession of Monterey, raised 
the American flag at Sutter's Fort the next morning, 
and led by Fremont, marched south to Monterey 
where they arrived on July 19. Plans were immedi- 
ately made for the conquest of the province and the 
California Battalion was more definitely organized with 
Fremont as lieutenant-colonel commanding, and in 
which Bidwell received a commission as second lieu- 
tenant. Of fighting there was none, for as Bidwell 
says: " We simply marched all over California from 
Sonoma to San Diego and raised the American flag 
without opposition or protest. We tried to find an. 
enemy but could not". 

Fremont was made Governor of California, and in 
August, 1846, sent Bidwell to take charge of the 
Mission of San Luis Rey with commission as Alcalde 
or Magistrate over the larger portion of the country 
between Los Angeles and San Diego. His occupancy 
of this judicial appointment was of short duration, for 
in about a month the Californians south of Monterey 
revolted against the Americans, in consequence, it is 
said, of " the intolerant and exasperating administration 
of affairs" by Lieutenant A. H. GiUespie, U. S. A., in 
Los Angeles, and Bidwell fled from San Luis Rey to 



16 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

San Diego. A reorganization of the American forces 
was effected under Commodore Stockton in San Diego, 
and Bidwell was made quartermaster with the rank of 
major. In December the little army fought the battles 
of San Gabriel and the Mesa, with which " Flores 
Revolt", as the insurrection was termed, came to an 
end. From that time on California has been under the 
sovereign authority of the United States. 

Early in 1847, the battalion was disbanded and the 
volunteers returned to their homes. Bidwell made his 
way by land to Sutter's Fort and relates how he " had 
eleven horses which I swam, one at a time, across the 
Straits of Carquinez at Benecia". For a time he con- 
tinued as manager of Sutter's business and also acted as 
surveyor of all the Mexican land grants made by 
Micheltorena three years previous, having in the mean- 
time taken up his residence on a portion of the Farwell 
grant, in which he had acquired an interest, about three 
miles from the present city of Chico. 

In 1849, he purchased the splendid domain of Rancho 
Chico which William Dickey had obtained in 1844, 
by a grant from the Mexican authorities. This mag- 
nificent estate consisted of some twenty-two thousand 
acres, which was increased by subsequent purchases to 
twenty-five thousand acres of fertile land, interspersed 
with grand oaks through which might be seen entranc- 
ing vistas and perspectives. The ranch extended from 
the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, a distance of fifteen 
miles to the Sacramento River, along which it had a 
frontage of four miles and within its limits there are 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



17 



some of the most fertile and beautiful valley lands in 
the world. Six miles of foothill land carries the east- 
ern boundary of the estate to an elevation of one thou- 
sand to fifteen hundred feet above the valley. This 
was his happy home for the remaining years of his life. 

Toward that place of all the blest, 
Old home, the haven of sweet rest. 




Of his connection with the discovery of gold it is of 
importance to make some mention. Early in 1844, 
while at Hock Farm, a Mexican, Pablo Gutierrez by 
name, told him of the existence of gold in the Sierras, 
but he delayed exploring the territory described until 
a more opportune time. A year later he determined 
to visit the deposits but he could find " no time that 
busy year to carry out my purpose." Finally, in July, 
1846, he was able to examine the locality on Bear River 
where gold was said to have been found. He records 



18 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

that it was one of the hottest days he had ever experi- 
enced. No place looked favorable for a gold discovery. 
He even attempted to descend into a deep gorge 
through which meandered a small stream, but was 
confronted with dense thicket, a typical lair for grizzly 
bears. Having no weapon but a pocket knife he con- 
sidered it hazardous to enter the thicket and for that rea- 
son, together with the intense heat, he gave it up, and 
yet later that particular gulch was described as " one of 
the richest placers that had ever been found in this 
country ". 

In 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold in the 
race of the sawmill that he had buUt for Sutter, but it 
was Bidwell who carried the news of the discovery to 
San Francisco. "Time does not permit me to relate", 
he writes, " how the same year I discovered gold on 
Feather River and worked it; how I made the first 
weights and scales to weigh the first gold for Sam 
Brannan; how the richness of the mines became known 
to the Mormons who were employed by Sutter to work 
at the sawmill, working about on Sundays and finding 
it in the crevices along the stream; and how Brannan 
kept the gold a secret as long as he could, till the excite- 
ment burst out all at once like wildfire ". 

Three years earlier an intelligent Spaniard to whom 
some of the red cinnabar found near San Jose was 
shown, quickly recognized it as a valuable ore of mer- 
cury from which by heat the metal could readily be 
extracted, and which proved so necessary in separating 
the gold from its crushed ore. Concerning this he 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



19 



says: " The discovery of quicksilver at this time seemed 
providential in view of its absolute necessity to supple- 
ment the imminent discovery of gold, which stirred 
and waked into new life the industries of the world." 

His opinion on the 
great importance of 
the discovery of gold 
is also worthy of quot- 
ing: "He says it is a 
question whether the 
United States could 
have stood the shock 
of the great rebellion 
of 1861 had the Cali- 
fornia gold discov- 
ery not been made. 
Bankers and business 
men of New York in 
1864, did not hesi- 
tate to admit that 
but for the gold of California which monthly poured 
its five or six milhons into that financial center, the 
bottom would have dropped out of everything. 
These timely arrivals so strengthened the nerves of 
trade and stimulated business as to enable the Govern- 
ment to sell its bonds at a time when its credit was its 
life blood, and the main reliance by which to feed, 
clothe, and maintain its armies. Once our bonds went 
down to thirty-eight cents on the dollar. California 
gold averted a total collapse, and enabled a preserved 




20 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

Union to come forth from the great conflict with only 
four billions of debt instead of a hundred billions. 
The hand of Providence so plainly seen in the discov- 
ery of gold is no less manifest in the time chosen for 
its accomplishment." 

His parents and their parents before them had been 
farmers and so an inherited fondness for the cultivation 
of the earth led him to abandon his mining pursuits 
and to settle on Rancho Chico. Here he hoped to 
spend the remainder of his days in developing the 
splendid products of the wonderfully fertile soil of 
California, but the stern fates willed otherwise. "The 
years immediately following the gold discovery were 
pregnant with vitality and development, both financial 
and political, and in most of these events he was an 
active participant." In 1849, he was chosen a member 
of the first Constitutional Convention that met in 
Monterey, then the capital, but not being at home, the 
notification failed to reach him in time to enable him to 
be present. He was elected in the same year, from the 
Sacramento District, to the first Senate and participated 
in framing the laws under which California assumed the 
dignities of Statehood. A year, later he was appointed 
by Governor Burnett, one of the Commissioners to 
convey to Washington City a block of gold-bearing 
quartz, as California's contribution to the Washington 
Monument. In 1854, he was one of the vice-presidents 
of the State Democratic Convention that met in Sacra- 
mento, and he affiliated with the Anti-Broderick fac- 
tion. He was also a Vice-President of the Democratic 



John Bidwkll, Pioneer 21 

State Convention that met in Sacramento in February, 
1860, and was chosen by that body a delegate to the 
National Convention that met in Charleston, South 
Carolina, and he voted with the Union Democrats for 
the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas for President. 
But Chico was his heart's desire. " He was a passion- 
ate lover of nature in all its varied forms. As early as 
1847 he planted fruit trees and vines on his ranch, not 
hesitating to mount his horse and ride to the Mission 
of San Luis Rey and return, a distance of more than 
twelve hundred miles, in order to procure them." His 
was the first water-power flour mill in that section of 
the State; and his was the first dairy, butter previously 
being brought by the sea. He began the cultivation 
of wheat and other grains with his first year's ranching. 
He tested the virtue and adaptability, through long 
vears of experiment, of every kind and variety of cereal 
obtainable and freely gave to the public the benefit of 
his experience. These experiments were frequently 
made at great financial cost, but he was ever ready to 
do his utmost for the public welfare, whether in experi- 
menting with grains or testing new agricultural machin- 
ery, even when others refused the undertaking. 

It was not only the practical, but also the beautiful, 
that he cultivated, and early in the sixties rarest roses, 
as well as lilies, flowering shrubs, and trees, some of 
which he imported direct from China and Japan, were 
growing in such abundance in his gardens that visitors 
were allowed to carry away with them baskets full of 
blossoms of the only cultivated flowers in that section 



22 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

of the State. He also built hot-houses for the propa- 
gation of the more delicate varieties of plants, and for 
many years he had the largest fruit-tree nursery in 
California, which was so favorably known for its purity 
of stock as to be patronized by residents in all parts of 
the State. 

Captain John Mullan, of the United States Army, 
who went overland from Walla Walla to San Francisco 
in 1862, described a visit to Chico in the following words: 

At Tehama we cross the Sacramento and, in a few miles, enter 
upon one of the most choice agricultural districts the eye ever rested 
upon — where grain fields are not measured by the acre, nor yet by the 
mile, but by the league. By a day's drive we pass through the exten- 
sive and rich fields of Major Bidwell, where eleven thousand acres of 
grain were being thrashed — where his own mill stood ready to convert 
into flour the produce of his own fields; where his own mammoth 
store furnished hundreds of his employees with all the wants of life; 
where his own energy was opening, with his own means, a wagon road 
from the Sacramento River to the Humboldt mines; and where his 
own purse has already paid out $35,000, and backed by a willingness 
to pay as much more, in order to open up a new market for the exu- 
berant products of so rich a soil as he himself possesses. The center 
of his large estate is the beautiful village of " Chico", where, in rural 
wealth as well as in rural simplicity, live an educated and contented 
peasantry, all more or less supported by the means of this bachelor 
millionaire — whose residence, on the banks of the Sacramento, is one 
of those architectural gems hid away amidst shrubs, trees, orchards, and 
groves, as if to avoid the gaze of him whose residence is of crowded 
cities and who is almost unworthy to breathe the sweet perfume of a 
region where such bowers grow. May Major Bidwell long live — 
though bachelor he be — to dispense his bounties to a people who 
respect him for the liberal and generous manner in which he shares his 
wealth with those not similarly blest. 



John Bidwell, Pionekr 



23 



With the making of his home in Chico naturally 
came the development of various kinds of commercial 
enterprises, and although many of the special features 
of this vast estate have been referred to, it is desirable 
to describe them in more detail. In 1847, Bidwell 




planted the first fruit trees and vines in the vicinity and 
a few years later he had orchards of peach, apple, fig, 
and other fruits, including grapes, and among the first 
raisins ever made in California were those produced 
by him. In the days when wheat was king it was 
claimed that there were no better wheat fields in the 



24 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

State, and for the grinding of this cereal into flour he 
built in 1853 his first flour mill. In an account pub- 
lished in 1888, it is said that of the seven thousand 
acres then under cultivation, about fifteen hundred 
were used for orchard and vineyard purposes, twelve 
hundred of which were of trees in full bearing; about 
one hundred acres were used for the nursery and vege- 
table garden, while the remainder of the cultivated 
land was devoted to the raising of wheat and barley, 
with the exception, however, of one hundred acres 
which was given over to such products as sorghum, 
sugar cane, and maize. The remainder of the ranch 
was used exclusively for timber and pasturage pur- 
poses, seven hundred and fifty acres of the latter being 
devoted to alfalfa. 

No less than twenty subdivisions or ranches of this 
splendid estate were recognized and on each of these a 
separate industry was organized. These subdivisions 
were as follows : Vineyard Place ; Williams Place, fruit 
orchards; Sulam Place, young orchard ; Upper Dump 
Place,vineyard and orchard; Sheep Ranch; Manzanita 
Ranch, grain; East Field Ranch, grain and orchard; 
Dairy Ranch; Drake Ranch, grain and fruit; Bee 
Ranch, apiary; Nursery; Adobe Ranch, grain and 
alfalfa; River Ranch, stock, hay, and pasture; Hennery, 
fowls; Turkey Ranch, turkeys; Mill, flour, and feed; 
Cannery and Packing House; Vinegar Factory; Meat 
Market; and the Mansion Grounds, including flower 
gardens, deer park, fruit orchards, and ornamental 
grounds. 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



25 



The following list includes many of the products 
grown on the ranch: Cereals, such as wheat, barley, 
rye, oats, alfalfa, Indian corn, Egyptian corn, broom 
corn, sorghum; vegetables, such as Irish potatoes, 
sweet potatoes, beans, peas, lettuce, artichokes, beets, 
cabbages, melons, pumpkins, and squashes ; fruits, such 




as apples, crab-apples, pears, cherries, plums, prunes, 
peaches, apricots, nectarines, quinces, figs, olives, 
loquats, pomegranates, mulberries; together with many 
varieties of small fruits and berries such as gooseberries, 
currants, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, 
from twenty to thirty tons of the latter having been 



26 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

harvested in a single season ; and nuts, such as almonds, 
chestnuts, pecans, butternuts, walnuts, and filberts. 
In the orchards there were, at the time of General 
Bidwell's death, 115,590 fruit and nut trees, including 
56,000 peach, 26,160 plum and prune, 10,900 almond, 
7,500 apricot, 5,650 pear, 2,900 cherry, 2,819 apple, 
2,750 olive, 336 nectarine, 250 walnut, 200 quince, 
200 orange, and 125 chestnut trees. The grape 
vines in 1890 occupied two hundred acres and com- 
prised 76,645 vines distributed among the follow- 
ing varieties: 57,215 Muscat; 5,110 Rose of Peru; 
4,650 Flame Tokay; 2,150 Blue Tokav; 1,350 
Malaga; 1,320 Sultana; 1,310 Black Hamburg; 1,020 
Emperor ; 650 Sweetwater ; 590 Damascus ; 200 Black 
Morocco, and 80 Cornichon. 

For the preparation of the fruit for the market 
there were in 1888 three packing houses, including 
one for raisins, and three dry houses, aU equipped espe- 
cially for the preservation of raisins, but used for all 
kinds of fruits. The shipments were chiefly to local 
points, although at times consignments were sent as far 
East as Chicago and six car loads of fruit were on one 
occasion sent to Eastern dealers. The fruit was pre- 
served in what was recognized as "one of the most 
perfect and complete canning establishments in the 
State", having a capacity from eight to ten thousand 
cans daily. In one year seventy-five thousand cans of 
apricots — the entire pack — was sold in advance to the 
Chicago market. Over three hundred and fifty thou- 
sand cans of preserved fruit was not an unusual out- 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



27 



put for a single season. Some years before General 
Bidwell's death, however, the fruit-cannery was dis- 
continued, as was also the shipment of green fruit to 
the East. All fruits raised on the Ranch were either 
dried or sold to the local canneries. At this period a full 




crop of fruit in the orchards meant about 5,000,000 
pounds of peaches, 3,000,000 pounds of green or 
1,500,000 pounds of dried prunes, 1,000,000 pounds of 
apricots, 600,000 pounds of cherries, 600,000 pounds 



28 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

of pears, 300,000 pounds of almonds, and lesser quanti- 
ties of other fruits. 

From this same source of information it appears that 
five hundred head of cattle and from five hundred to a 
thousand horses, as well as six thousand sheep and about 
fifteen hundred hogs were raised and cared for on the 
Ranch. The Meat Market, which was the retail 
branch of this portion of the Ranch, supplied the local 
demands of Chico and vicinity. One hundred and 
fifty cows, mostly of the finest high-grade Durham 
stock, furnished the Dairy with milk and butter in 
quantity sufficient for all residents in the neighbor- 
hood. The average yield of grain was twenty-five 
bushels to the acre, and the annual yield of the ranch 
was upward of one hundred thousand bushels of wheat 
and forty thousand bushels of barley, much of which 
was converted into flour at the Chico Roller Flouring 
Mills, which had a capacity of two hundred barrels 
every twenty-four hours. The principal products of 
the mill were the Extra Family and Golden Era brands 
of flour; and choice Graham flour and corn meal were 
also produced. In connection with the mill was a bar- 
ley crusher, where large quantities of barley were 
crushed and shipped. 

General Bidwell was the first white man to explore 
and one of the first to settle in Butte County, and the 
remarkable business development of his wonderful 
estate as shown in the foregoing account took place in 
the last half of the Nineteenth Century. It remains 
only to add that the average number of persons 



John Bidwell Pioneer 



29 



employed was one hundred and fifty, although during 
the harvest and fruit seasons this number frequently 
rose to seven or eight hundred. The payroll amounted 




Cup awarded by the California State Agricultural Society 
TO John BinwELL in 1863, for Bk'^t (Jrain Farm 



to $100,000 a year, and the volume of business done in 
all departments during the same period of time reached 
the large sum of $750,000. 



30 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

He was one of the chief contributors, as well as an 
exhibitor, at the State and District Fairs in California, 
and his addresses on subjects pertaining to agriculture 
were highly esteemed. Many of these were printed 
as official documents and when consulted show that he 
was a pioneer in thoughts which now prevail among 
the most scientific and practical agriculturists. Gold 
medals were awarded him at Expositions held in New 
Orleans and elsewhere for his incomparable display of 
grains, and again at the World's Fair held in Paris in 
1878 he was given a gold medal for the best wheat on 
exhibition there. 

From 1849 to 1860 all of the improvements in Chico 
and its vicinity were confined to the buildings erected by 
General Bidwell, but his many employes and their fami- 
lies soon constituted a settlement by themselves which 
grew into the municipality of Chico. The site for the 
city was selected by him, and at one time all the lots 
were owned by him. He was the first postmaster of 
the town, and presented to the city the Plaza, the lot 
occupied by the City Hall, and the lots occupied by 
five of the churches. In addition, he donated eight 
acres of the choicest land in Chico, valued at $15,000, 
for a site for the State Normal School in 1888, and 
when it was proposed to establish a Forestry Station in 
1893 in northern California, General Bidwell promptly 
offered to the State thirty-seven acres of exceedingly 
rich alluvial land near Chico Creek, said to be worth 
$5,000, which was accepted. When he laid out the 
town he presented the ground for wide streets and 




i;i<\( i.i: IVvrn. E--i'i.as.\iii:, Kwhm idi 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 31 

tracts of land for public parks, on which he planted 
shade trees from his own nurseries. To the public 
always he gladly and freely extended the use of his 
magnificent grounds and drives, all of which were 
improved by him at great cost and labor. As the city 
grew the wisdom of its founder became more and 
more apparent, and the beauty of its appointments 
gained for it the name of "City of Roses", and its 
grateful citizens proudly hailed their benefactor as 
"The Father of Chico". 

Meanwhile his fellow citizens in California, recog- 
nizing his many splendid qualities, had demanded and 
received their share of his services. In 1861, he was a 
candidate before the Union-Democrat convention for 
the gubernatorial nomination, but was defeated by 
John Conness. Two years later he was one of the 
Vice-Presidents of the Union State Convention that 
nominated F. F. Low for Governor, and was chosen 
as a member of the State Central Committee. In 1864, 
he was sent as a Delegate-at-Large to the convention 
that met in Baltimore and nominated Abraham Lin- 
coln for the presidency, and in September he received 
the Union nomination for Congress from the Third 
District. He was elected by a majority of nearly four 
thousand votes and served as a member of the Thirty- 
ninth Congress. At the expiration of his term he was 
offered a re-nomination, but declined the honor. In 
1863, he was appointed by Governor Stanford Briga- 
dier-General of the Fifth Brigade of the California State 
Militia. Again, in 1867, he was a candidate before the 



32 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

Union Convention for the office of Governor, but was 
defeated by George C. Gorham by a vote of 148 against 
132. The nomination of Gorham not being accept- 
able to many of the RepubHcans, Bidwell was chosen 
as the " representative of the respectable people of the 
State", but on being notified of this action he declined, 
claiming " that it was the duty of good citizens to stand 
by the principles enunciated at the convention, and 
subserve pubUc interests by pledging members of the 
Legislature to the enactment of honest laws". 

While in Washington it was General Bidwell's good 
fortune to meet Miss Annie Kennedy, the eldest 
daughter of Honorable Joseph C. G. Kennedy, who 
was appointed by President Fillmore as Superintendent 
of the Census of 1850, and by President Buchanan Su- 
perintendent of the Census of 1860, and finding her to be 
the " noblest type of womanhood " he souglit her hand 
and they married in 1868. From this time until his 
death — thirty-two years later — this "noble, industrious, 
unassuming, and estimable woman" was the mainstay 
of her husband's existence. Her kindly and sympa- 
thetic nature showed itself most conspicuously by the 
many ways in which she aided him in his widespread 
philanthropy. 

Thus far in this sketch no mention has been made of 
his home and perhaps wisely, for as no home is perfect 
without the influence of woman, so it was not until 
Mrs. Bidwell became the chatelaine of the estate that 
the home of General Bidwell attained its greatest influ- 
ence. It is not necessary to describe his early home in 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



33 



Chico, nor to more than mention the log houses he 
built in 1847 and 1849, as well as the historic adobe 
dwelling that he built in 1852, but it is of interest to 
briefly allude to the residence familiarly known as the 
"Mansion", that was begun in 1865 and completed 
three years later, for it was to this home that he brought 




his bride. It occupies a site near the center of the 
Ranch on Chico Creek and is adjacent to the city. 
Surrounded by 150 acres of orchard and ornamental 
grounds, with gardens, conservatory, deer park, choice 
fruit trees, and flowering shrubs, the beauty and charm 
of this home could not be surpassed. As has been 



34 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

well said there was " nothing wanting in intelligence, 
science, refinement, good taste, or money" to make it 
attractive. Within its doors gracious hospitality was 
always its most characteristic feature, and to enjoy its 
bounties came welcome guests from far and near, 
among whom may be mentioned eminent celebrities 
such as President and Mrs. Hayes and General Sher- 
man, famous scientists such as Sir Joseph Hooker and 
Asa Gray, as well as distinguished CaUfornians such as 
Joseph LeConte, John Muir, and David Starr Jordan. 
Here in sympathetic companionship with her who was 
his best friend, he developed those plans that had for 
their chief purpose the improvement of his estate, or 
studied how best he might accomplish the ameliora- 
tion of those who were his neighbors and especially 
the native Indians of the vicinity. And thus the 
years came and went all too quickly, for after all 

There is no place like home; 
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there, 
Which seek through the world is ne'er met with elsewhere, 
Home, Home, Sweet, Sweet, Home ! 

Very close to a man's home life is his religious life. 
It is not pertinent, however, to more than lift the edge 
of the veil of that which was most sacred to him. His 
life showed him to be a " devoted Christian, striving to 
induce others to lead a similar life. He was a true 
neighbor, loving his neighbor as himself". It was 
said of him at the time of his death by District Attor- 
ney Sproul: "John Bidwell was ever a good man, 
always a pure man, from first to last a man of high 



John Biuvvell, Pioneer 



35 



ideals, aiming and hoping for something better, striv- 
ing for the best." His church affihations were with 
the Presbyterians and in the early history of Chico 
when the members of that denomination wanted to 
erect a suitable church building, subscriptions were 
soHcted by the trustees and the sum of $2,500 was 




raised. When completed the edifice cost $16,000 and 
of that amount General Bidwell contributed all except 
the sum subscribed, thus giving $13,500, besides the lot 
on which the church stands. 

It is said that in response to a request for informa- 
tion concerning his political beliefs, General Bidwell 



36 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

replied: "My politics are intensely Republican, in the 
sense of that term as used to bring that party into exist- 
ence, and in its mission to preserve the Union, but I 
am more than a Republican, I am a Prohibitionist, a 
Native American, and Anti-Chinese in the sense of 
wholesome restriction of all foreign immigration, and 
an Anti-monopolist in the truest sense of the term". 
This deUberate expression of his opinions may be in 
part explained in view of the following experiences: 
In the autumn of 1872, delegates from a number of 
farmers' clubs met in Sacramento to take action to 
promote agricultural and industrial interests of the 
State and to resist the aggression of the corporations. 
General Bidwell was called to preside over this meet- 
ing. Three years later he was nominated by a party 
composed of this same element, in conjunction with 
other Anti-monopolists, under the name of the Peo- 
ple's Independent Party, for the Governorship of Cali- 
fornia, with Roumaldo Pacheco for Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor and was supported by some of the most eminent 
men of the State, among whom were Newton Booth, 
Henry Edgerton, Morris M. Estee, Creed Raymond, 
and John F. Swift. 

Shortly afterwards he was also tendered a similar nom- 
ination by the Temperance Reform Party. The latter 
he declined, saying : " I stand upon the People's Inde- 
pendent platform. I believe firmly in temperance, but 
will accept no further nomination". In the election 
that ensued he received 29,752 votes as against 61,509 
for the Democratic candidate and 31,322 for the 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



Republican candidate. In 1886, General Bidwell was 
a delej^ate to the State Anti-Chinese convention, in 
which he took an active part and in which he opposed 
all extreme measures calculated to do injustice to the 
rights of resident Chinese. 







^■it0Mm^ 








A SixoLE Wild Grape Vine, Rancho Chico 



A Californian, distinguished for legal abihty, devo- 
tion to the welfare of his State, and a loyal Republi- 
can, has thus written of him: 

General Bidwell was essentially a Republican in politics, although 
long estranged from the party. There was no honor within the gift of 
this people which his real and true merit would not have brought him 



38 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

had he allowed himself to consult expediency rather than principle in 
his personal relations to the party. His devotion to principle and his 
honesty of purpose; his private life of stainless purity, and his noble 
example as a devotee to the highest ideals of religion and morality, as 
well as to the cause of temperance, became household words in many 
thousand of American homes. 

Notwithstanding the fact that in 1875 he declined 
the gubernatorial nomination proffered him by the 
Temperance Reform Party, already mentioned, he was 
nevertheless a strong and fearless advocate of temper- 
ance. He considered the liquor traffic to be the bane 
of society, the curse of mankind, and a menace to the 
stability of this country. In April, 1888, he was chair- 
man of the Prohibition State Convention that met in 
San Francisco, and was selected as a delegate to the 
National Convention ; also receiving a nomination as 
Presidential elector on the Prohibition ticket. In 1890, 
he again presided over the Prohibition Convention 
that was held in San Francisco and received the nomi- 
nation for Governor on that occasion, but although 
polling the full strength of his party, received only 
10,073 votes. 

He was a delegate to the National Prohibition Con- 
vention that met in Cincinnati in 1892 and received 
from that body its nomination for the Presidency of the 
United States. In his letter of acceptance he referred 
to the liquor traffic as " a danger to public health ; the 
prolific source of untold political corruption, crimes, 
diseases, degradation, and death ; a public nuisance 
and a public immorality ; in a word, it is an unmiti- 



John Bidwfxl, Pioneer 39 

gated and measureless evil without a redeeming fea- 
ture. Every consideration of justice, the public wel- 
fare, protection to labor and to all other interests, public 
and private, all cry out against this enemy." Among 
other declarations were the following: "The money 
of the country shall consist of gold, silver, and paper" 
to be "issued by the Government only;" "combination 
to lock up capital with the view to raise the rate of 
interest, or reduce the price of labor or commodities 
should be made illegal, and, as far as possible, impossi- 
ble." " Changes in our tariff system should of course 
be made in the light of all interests and our commer- 
cial relations with other nations." " Reciprocity can 
but enlarge and make most flourishing commercial 
relations." "An income tax can do no injustice, work 
no oppression." " Other governments have owned 
and run railroads — America can surely do as much — 
and even more." " We have already quite enough of 
imported nihilism, anarchism, and pauperism." " Ban- 
ish the saloon, restrict immigration, and relief will fol- 
low." "No denominational or sectarian differences 
should be permitted to enter the American public school 
house." " Control all monopolies in the interest of all 
the people." And " Enthrone woman with the 
ballot." 

In the canvass that followed charges were made in 
the opposition papers that General Bidwell had at one 
time stood second on the list of large wine and brandy 
makers in the State and an intimation was conveyed 
that he was still indirectly engaged in the business. 



40 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

This was answered by the statement that, more than 
twenty-five years before, he had set out a vine- 
yard of about ten acres of wine grapes, it being at 
that time the general impression, as well as his own, 
that the use of light wine to the exclusion of strong 
alcoholic liquors would be promotive of temperance. 
During his absence from California while in Congress 
the manufacture of wine was carried on at Rancho 
Chico, but on his return, finding men coming from 
the winery with unsteady steps, he at once closed it, 
dug up the wine grapes, and gave all the wine for me- 
dicinal purposes to a hospital in San Francisco, "refus- 
ing to contribute directly or indirectly to the woes 
and wickedness of the drink curse." The value of the 
liquor trade in the United States in the year 1892 
amounted to nearly one billion of dollars, but the people 
were not yet ready to free themselves of the shackles of 
that terrible incubus. Such at least was their testimony 
at the poUs on election, although General Bidwell 
received 264,133 votes, being a larger popular expres- 
sion by the people in favor of temperance than at any 
previous or subsequent election. 

One of his friends has written : 

"General Bidwell was not a man to follow any 
political party blindly. No man and no party could 
silence his conscience or control his judgment; he was 
master of both and held himself responsible only to 
his God for the results to flow from his conclusions 
and actions ; " and " The latter years of his life were 
given to the promotion of the cause of temperance. 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



41 



which he elevated to the dignity of a national political 
issue. His extreme radicalism was here manifest, for 
he would stop at no point short of the impracticable 
and unattainable vantage ground of absolute prohibi- 
tion. He regarded all efforts to restrain the liquor 
traffic, such as high license, to be compacts with 
wickedness and a concession that the traffic must be 





«,*' 



...^ .^-fc 




General Bidwelj. Distributing Goods to the Indians in 185- 



tolerated if not encouraged. He carried his views to 
the point of demanding amendments to the National 
Constitution in order that complete and final extirpa- 
tion of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors 
should be accomplished in all States of the Union 
through Congressional action." 

A worthy feature in the character of General Bid- 
well was his respect for the rights of and his personal 



42 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

regard for the Indians, and especially was this mani- 
fested by his wise and loving care of those whom he 
had found in naked savagery on Rancho Chico when 
he became its possessor. Recognizing that the advent 
in their midst of the white man thrust upon them 
unusual perils, he removed them from their exposed 
position to one in his private grounds, where he could 
better protect them. He taught the men agriculture 
and employed the women as gatherers of seed-wheat, 
garden seeds, of small fruits, and as repairers of sacks in 
his flour mill. Men and women received employment 
in his orchards. He gave them land on which to 
build homes, and then erected for them the little 
church, where for many years Mrs. Bidwell every 
Sunday morning has conducted, and still conducts, 
devotional exercises, leading the Indians in prayer, 
preaching a sermon, and singing hymns with them, for 
in no way has Mrs. Bidwell shown her sympathetic 
nature to a greater degree than by the way in which 
she aided her husband in protecting and civilizing 
these unfortunate Wards of the Nation. 

General Bidwell found the Indians "as wild as a 
deer and wholly unclad," and he left them in happy 
homes with their own gardens, fruit trees, and flowers, 
a number of the older ones fairly educated and the 
children bright pupils in the public schools, some even 
in the Chico Normal School. Had the United States 
Government followed a similar policy forty years ago 
the Indian question would have been easily settled. "A 
Century of Dishonor" would never have been written 



% 




\i \l. \\\< Mi:-, i; 1 i>\\ i I.I.. I \ I'l-.u Mil- I'Al.M-. 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 43 

as a well-merited rebuke on the National treatment of 
those who preceded us in the occupancy of this coun- 
try. Recognizing their fondness for music he aided 
them to organize a band, and it has been said : 

"Because General Bidwell was a good citizen he 
made it possible for a choir, composed of Indians, to 
sing in tones almost divine at his grave, strong men 
weeping as they heard the pathetic refrain." 

General Bidwell was a public-spirited man and in 
addition to the many facts already enumerated that so 
abundantly testify to the truth of this statement, may be 
mentioned the following: In the early sixties, when 
the Steam Navigation Company became oppressive to 
the people, he gave what relief he could by building a 
steamer and running it on the Sacramento River from 
Sacramento to Red Bluff. Later, when it became 
necessary to secure $100,000 as a subsidy to build a 
railroad from Colusa to Chico, he subscribed $10,000, 
one-tenth of the amount to be raised by the two 
towns and between, and this at a time when it had 
been " a hard year " with him. Through no fault of 
his the project was never consummated. In 1887, the 
California Legislature authorized the establishment of 
a State Normal School north of Marysville, and a Com- 
mission appointed by the Governor was charged vi'ith 
the selection of a site. It was soon evident that the 
choice lay between Red Bluff and Chico, and it was 
believed that the proffer of a suitable location would 
influence the Commission. 

General Bidwell was in the East and an appeal was 



44 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

wired to him and promptly came the answer : "Any 
place on Rancho Chico is at your disposal except my 
door yard." This was enough and the Northern 
Branch State Normal School was established in Chico. 
When a market was needed for the products of the 
Sacramento Valley, such was his confidence in the 
future prosperity of this Valley that he built a wagon 
road over the untraversed Sierras from Chico to Pratt- 
ville, a distance of sixty-four miles, at a personal 
expense of $50,000, himself blazing the way. The last 
three summers of his life were spent in improving the 
grades of this magnificent scenic road, camping along 
its route with a force of men, partly provided by the 
counties of Butte and Plumas and partly by himself. 
The surveys were made by him and the road from the 
first was donated to the public, General Bidwell never 
having accepted any income from it. His love for his 
fellow citizens was "shown by kindly acts which 
number in the thousands and glitter out like bright 
stars upon the firmament." 

Mrs. Bidwell tells us that he especially "loved 
botany and astronomy and was passionately fond of 
surveying. He brought his Burritt's Astronomy and 
Celestial Atlas across the plains in 1841, though all else 
had to be discarded. The General tried to supply 
himself with instruments to take his bearings by astro- 
nomical observation, but he was unable to obtain them. 
His knowledge of surveying and mathematics was of 
great value to him in both official and private Ufe. 
Whatever he read he studied. He usually spent an 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



45 



hour or two at night and from four to six o'clock in the 
morning in study. He generally carried a book in his 
pocket to read at odd times. His constant custom was to 
commit to memory the sayings of the wise and good." 



'^'*% .. 




Oenebal Bidwell on his Mule Linda. Takkn in 1893 



Nor was his interest in the natural sciences less. " He 
could call at sight the scientific names of almost all of 
the California trees, shrubs, and flowering plants that 
came under his observation and study." The Board 
of Education of Chico, subsequent to his death, spread 
upon its record the following beautiful tribute to his 
memory : 



46 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

"General Bidwell loved the world and all she gave 
of good ; the trees, the flowers, and vines spoke for 
him a language that filled his soul with happiness, 
and springtime zephyrs, the angry winter winds, the 
rushing water in its ceaseless journey to the seas, and 
every voice of Nature was to him a song, finding 
responsive echo in his heart." 

He was an early member of the Society of Califor- 
nia Pioneers, his name appearing among the first in the 
chronological list of its members, and in 1854 he was a 
vice-president of that organization. The Old Settlers' 
Association honored him and themselves by choosing 
him as their President. Not only was he one of the 
early regents of the University of California, but that 
University conferred upon him in 1865 the honorary 
degree of Master of Arts. The first name on the roll 
of its six thousand graduates is that of John Bidwell. 
From the beginning until a short time before his death 
he was one of the Board of Trustees of the State Nor- 
mal School. 

My short and happy day is done ; 
The long and lonely night comes on, 
And at my door the pale horse stands 
To carry me to unknown lands. 

On the morning of April 4, 1900, General Bidwell 
appeared to be in his usual health and went with a 
number of men to that part of his ranch where he was 
clearing some timber. It became necessary to cut a 
fallen tree, as a result of which an attack of heart 
failure suddenly and temporarily overcame him. He 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 47 

was driven to liis home and for a time rallied, but 
another attack came on and he quietly and calmly 
passed away, at about half-past two o'clock in the after- 
noon. Without warning — and he needed none — the 
end came and he was with his God. 

And at my door the pale horse stands 
To bear me forth to unknown lands. 

The announcement of the death of Chico's fore- 
most citizen was recei\'ed with deep sorrow by his fel- 
low citizens. Bells from the churches tolled the 
solemn news, emblems of mourning were soon raised 
in the business portion of the city, and messages of 
sympathy and condolence from friends and neighbors 
were sent to comfort her whose loss was the greatest. 
On Wednesday, a week later, on the southeast 
verandah of his beautiful home, surrounded by tiowers 
from those who loved him, they brought all that was 
mortal of General Bidwell, and there, amid the sacred 
hush of mourning, he received the formal expression 
of farewell. 

The services began with the reading of verses from 
the Bible by the Reverend W. G. White, of the Pres- 
byterian Church: "He that believeth in Me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he Live ; and whosoever liveth 
and believeth in Me shall never die." The solemn 
strains of the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee," 
foUowed, tenderly rendered by a choir of Indians. The 
Reverend Samuel H. Willey, chaplain of the first Leg- 
islature of California, offered an appropriate prayer, 



48 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

and then "For God and Native Land," a favorite 
hymn of General Bidwell's, w^as sung by a number of 
students from the Normal School. A brief address was 
made by Mr. Willey, who sketched the career of his 
lifelong friend, and concluded his remarks with these 
words : " He will be honored for generations to come, 
for his name is connected with noble deeds. His 
name will be coupled with the State, and we rejoice 
that there was such a man and he was here." Mr. 
Henry French, of San Jose, then spoke at some length, 
praising him for his battles for the right, chiefly those 
in the cause of temperance. " Mourn Not," a duet of 
males voices, followed, and then his pastor, the Rever- 
end W. G. White, delivered a sympathetic address, 
taking as his theme the career of General Bidwell and 
urging his hearers, especially the younger ones, to fol- 
low it as a model. A benediction brought the service 
to a close. 

The funeral procession was then formed. To the 
stately music of an impressive funeral march, over a 
roadway lovingly strewn with flowers by the children 
of the public schools. General Bidwell made his last 
journey. As active pall-bearers were four of his faith- 
ful employees and four of the Rancho Chico Indians, 
three of whom were unclad savages when he first 
came into possession of Rancho Chico. The honor- 
ary pall-bearers were representatives from the County 
officials; the Bench and Bar of the State; the Califor- 
nia Pioneers; the State University; and the Chico State 
Normal School. At the cemetery the services were 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



49 



simple. A choir of Indian voices sang sweetly " Good 
Night", and the Benediction was pronounced. 

Now to the earth let these remains 

In hope committed be; 
Until the body, changed, attains 
Blessed immortality. 




Last of all came little Indian children, who, with 
solemn air, each one on tiptoe, advanced to the 
grave and placed there a bunch of wild flowers, which 
they themselves had gathered, and then withdrew 



50 John Bidwell, Pioneer 

with their faces all the while reverently turned towards 
the grave. And so to his eternal rest was carried Cali- 
fornia's most honored pioneer. 

Memorial services were held in the State Normal 
School on April 29, 1900, when addresses were made by 
President C. C. Van Liew, Richard White, W. J. Cos- 
tar, Professor M. L. Seymour, and the Reverend W. 
G. White. Also similar exercises were held on May 
7, under the auspices of the officers of Butte County, 
over which Judge John C. Gray presided and a eulogy 
prepared by the Honorable A. F. Jones was read by 
Mr. Carleton Gray and eloquent tributes to General 
Bidwell were delivered by Jo D. Sproul, District Attor- 
ney, and Colonel H. T. Batchelder. 

Resolutions and tributes to the memory of General 
Bidwell were adopted by many organizations, both 
local and national, all testifying to the worthy charac- 
ter of the deceased. Of all these none was more 
beautiful than the following minute from the Board of 
Education of Chico : 

His life work was to learn all that was good; to teach and edu- 
cate; to uplift and ennoble humanity. He was the foe of ignorance 
and vice ; the friend and patron of enlightenment. When from his 
bounty he gave his choice gifts for the advancement of education and 
morality, this he did not as a charity, but in the line of his high ideal 
of citizenship and patriotic duty, as sacred trusts for high and lofty ends. 

Of none could it be better said : " His life was gentle and the ele- 
ments so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the 
world, This is a man.' " 

The Board of Trustees of the City of Chico resolved 
that "as a perpetual monument to the memory of 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 51 

General John Bidwell, we recommend that the seal of 
this city be changed from its present form and design 
by inserting his portrait in the center thereof, together 
with his name, and making his name and portrait a 
part thereof, that thereby hereafter every official act of 
this city bearing its common seal shall be a reminder to 
us of our late departed founder and distinguished 
neighbor and friend". 

In honor of the memory of General Bidwell, nine- 
teen hundred acres of the most desirable land along 
Chico Creek, comprising Oak Forest where stands the 
stately oak named in honor of Sir Joseph Hooker, 
Iron Canyon, and other beauty spots were, in July, 
1905, conveyed to the municipality by Mrs. Bidwell, 
thus insuring to the posterity of the community in 
perpetuity what has been described as "one of the 
grandest of CaHfornia's natural parks, and the most 
magnificent natural park owned by any city in this 
State, if not in the United States". This splendid gift 
was accepted by the authorities of Chico, and in honor 
of its donors received the name of Bidwell Park. 

In September, 1905, a block of granite, bearing the 
inscription "General John Bidwell, the Pioneer States- 
man of California", was inserted in the base of the 
monument erected in Monterey in honor of Commo- 
dore John Drake Sloat, of the United States Navy, who 
raised the American flag and took formal possession of 
California, on July 7, 1846. This was done by the 
authorities of Chico in response to an invitation 
received from the Sloat Monument Association to con- 



52 



John Bidwell, Pioneer 



tribute a stone to his memory bearing the above 
inscription. 

George Eliot once wrote : 

So to live is heaven ; 
To make undying music in the world, 
Breathing as beauteous order that controls 
With growing sway the growing life of man. 

These lines, it seems to me, apply with special force 
to John BidweU, Pioneer. 





GOLn Ml£l)AL AWAKDED TO GENKBAL BiDAVKLL AT THE 

Paris Exposition in 1878. 




V6 0-'* 



